Portable roller conveyor for handling meat products



G. R. CURTIS Nov. 30, 1965 PORTABLE ROLLER CONVEYOR FOR HANDLING MEATPRODUCTS Original Filed March 13. 1961 INVENTOR: GLENN R. CURTIS BY WMMM ATT'YS United States Patent 3,220,527 PORTABLE ROLLER CONVEYOR FORHANDLING MEAT PRODUCTS Glenn R. Curtis, Evanston, 111., assignor toIndependent Grocers Alliance Distributing Co., Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Original application Mar. 13, 1961, Ser. No.95,178, now

PatentNo. 3,140,510, dated July 14, 1964. Divided and this applicationJuly 10, 1964, Ser. No. 381,685

1 Claim. (Cl. 193-35) This case is a division of Serial No. 95,178 filedMarch 13, 1961, now Patent No. 3,140,510, issued July 14, 1964. Thisinvention relates to apparatus for handling meat products, and moreparticularly to apparatus especially useful in receiving meat deliveriesat a retail store.

Heretofore, meat handling procedures have depended upon the arrangementof equipment and facilities for handling meat and have beentime-consuming, costly and inefficient. An example of a common acceptedmeat handling procedure includes the necessity ofthe delivery man toclimb from ground level into a refrigerated meat truck and thengathering of the items to be delivered on the rear end of the truck sothat they can be reached when he descends to the ground. It is wellknown that beef is diflicult to handle due to its awkward shape and itsweight, but for convenience of handling the beef carcass is usually cutinto quarters which usually weigh between one hundred twenty five to twohundred pounds. Upon descending to the ground, the delivery man mustload the quarter of beef on his shoulder and carry it into a storethrough a door that is usually not more than thirty six inches wide.

The present invention overcomes the difiiculties heretofore encounteredin the handling of meat products, and permits a more eflicient andeconomical manner of handling meat at a retail store.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new andimproved apparatus for handling meat products more quickly andefiiciently.

Another object of this invention is in the provision of apparatus forreceiving meat deliveries in a retail store wherein the meat handlingand receiving time is materially reduced, thereby reducing the laborinvolved in handling of the meat.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like reference numerals referto like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable roller conveyor sectionadapted for use in bridging the gap between the truck and a conveyor inthe meat handling room for facilitating the unloading of meat from thetruck; and FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the portable conveyorsection of FIG. 1 showing it in position between a truck and theconveyor in the meat handling room, and showing in phantom the secondposition for the roller section.

Although the present invention is illustrated and will be described asmost generally applicable for use in the receiving and handling of meatproducts at a retail store, it should be appreciated that other uses andpurposes of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art.However, the present invention is largely useful in connection withreceiving shipments of meat products as unloaded from a refrigeratedmeat truck, wherein it is desired to weigh the meat products, dividethem into primal cuts where desired, and to transport same into a meatstorage cooler.

Referring now to the drawings, a building such as a retail store wouldbe provided with a meat handling 3,220,527 Patented Nov. 30, 1965 roomand a meat cooler (not shown) and a conveyor 12 of any desirable type.

The conveyor 12 extends generally from an inlet or opening in the meathandling room providing access to the outer loading and unloading areaof the store through the meat handling room and into the meat cooler.The conveyor 12 is preferably of a standard well known type andespecially a roller conveyor wherein the rollers are mounted adjacentand parallel to one another between opposed frame flanges, and arepreferably idly supported. In this instance it is generally necessary toprovide some external power for moving items therealong, and in thiscase the power may be that of an operator wherein the control ofmovement of the items may be closely guarded. However, a slight grademay be applied to the conveyor between the opening in the meat handlingroom and the opening in the meat cooler to provide a gravity feed of theitems thereon in the direction of the meat cooler. Thus, the sections ofthe roller conveyor at the opening to the meat handling room would beslightly higher than at the opening to the meat cooler. Moreover, theconveyor 12 may include an upper run 15 and a lower run 16 wherein itmay be desired to send meat products and items of one type along theupper run and meat products and items of another type along the lowerrun. Particularly, quarters of beef could be advanced along the upperrun while meat products and the like packaged in containers may beadvanced along the lower run and directly into the meat cooler. But themeat products advanced along the upper run could be weighed and furtherout into smaller pieces if so desired. Both runs may be graded toprovide gravity feed of the meat products in the direction of the meatcooler.

In order to facilitate the handling of basic meat units such as quartersof beef and the like, pallets or skids may be provided to support themeat on the conveyor.

In order to facilitate the transfer of the meat products from atransporting vehicle to the conveyor 12 at the loading entrance to themeat handling room, a portable roller conveyor section 42, FIGS. 1 and2, may be used. As would normally be the case, a refrigerated truck 43would enter an unloading dock or area outside of the store adjacent tothe loading entrance of the meat handling room. Normally a door wouldclose the entrance and the inlet end of the conveyor 12 from theunloading area. The truck 43 would align its unloading platform 44 orunloading door of the truck adjacent to the loading entrance. Theportable conveyor section 42 would be aligned therewith such asillustrated in FIG. 2, whereupon pallets would be provided the truckdriver for loading the basic meat units unto the portable conveyorsection and for subsequent transfer to the conveyor 12. The portableconveyor section includes a rectangular frame 45 having rectangularlyconnected sections 46, 47, 48 and 49. At each corner of the frame, anupstanding leg is provided as designated by the numerals 50, 51, 52 and53. At the lower end of each leg, a caster 54 is provided to facilitatemovement of the conveyor section along its supporting surface.

The legs 52 and 53 include lower sections 52a and 53a rigidly secured tothe rectangular frame 45 and upper movable and adjustable sections 52band 53b that may be suitably adjustably secured to the lower sections bymeans of nut and bolt units 55, wherein a slot being provided in thefixed sections 52a and 5311 would permit vertical adjustment of thesections 52b and 53b. Adjacent the upper opposite ends of the sections52b and 53!), there is provided pins 56a for pivotally mounting one endof a roller conveyor section 56. It is this end which would be placedadjacent to and at the same height as the unloading platform of arefrigerated truck. The other end of the roller conveyor section 56 mayattain one of two positions, that of resting on the rectangular frame 45as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or that of being secured in an upper positionby pins 57 engaging under livered from the truck to the lower run 16 ofthe conveyor section 56. The roller conveyor section is shown in itsupper position in dotted lines in FIG. 2. When the roller conveyorsection 56 is in the lower position and resting on the frame 45, meatproducts may be delivered from the truck to the lower run 16 of theconveyor 12. While when the conveyor section 56 is in its upperposition, meat products may be delivered to the upper run 15 of theconveyor 12. The positioning of the rectangular frame 45 relative to thelegs is such as to permit alignment with the outlet end of the conveyorsection 56 and the inlet end of the lower run 16 of the conveyor 12,while the securing of the conveyor section 56 in the upper position issuch as to align the outlet end of the conveyor section with the inletend of the upper run 15 of the conveyor 12.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the present invention providesimproved apparatus for handling meat deliveries at a retail store whichwill reduce the manpower and handling of meat products and ultimatelythe cost of operating the store.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the 4 novel concepts of the presentinvention, but it is understood that this application is to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claim.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

A portable roller conveyor comprising a rectangular frame havingupstanding legs secured at each corner thereof and projecting above andbelow thereof, a caster at the bottom end of each leg, the legs at oneend including stationary parts secured to the frame and movable partsadjustably secured to said stationary parts above said frame, a sectionof rollers having inlet and outlet ends, means for pivotally securingthe inlet end of said section to the movable parts of the legs at oneend of said frame, means selectively positioning the outlet end of thesection along the legs above the frame in upper or lower positionsincluding locking means for securing the section in the upper positionwhile the section rests on the frame in the lower position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,050,478 l/1913Lister et al. l9336 2,199,097 4/ 1940 Chappelle 193-35 3,059,747 10/1963Sullivan 193--35 SAMUEL F, COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

